Her Mother's Image
by Sailor J-chanDuoxHilde 4ever
Summary: In AC 204, a 10-year-old girl appraoches the Yuy mansion, looking for the father she has never known. Her coming cuts him to the bone, so much that he can barely look at her. What will he do when she's hanging by a thread? Ch. 3 up, R&R!
1. The Little Girl

Disclaimer-I don't own Gundam Wing. Lien, Helena, Aralia, and Odin are my own characters. BTW, Aralia is pronounced Uh-rail-yuh and Lien is pronounced Lee-en.

The Little Girl

A girl about 10 years old walked in the snow. She had black hair in two buns on the side of her head and black, slightly slanted, eyes. Her possessions included the clothes on her and a Ziploc bag of sandwiches.

Running away, a rite of passage for all young children, was the greatest idea she had ever come up with. Unusually cunning for her age—probably getting it from her father—it had been easy for her to escape from that "orphanage" as it was called. It really was a rat hole with dirty, miserable kids and even more miserable people in charge. It was a horrible place to grow up, especially when she could look up her heritage and find her own parents.

Her mother, she found, had died. But her father was very much alive.

And she knew where he was.

Christmas Eve, AC 204. A reunion party was taking place in the Darlian mansion. Well, that's what the world still called it, but it was really the Yuy Mansion now.

Outside in the snow-covered lawn, a few children played. 6-year-old Helena Angeline Maxwell presided over 4-year-old Aralia Elizabeth Yuy. Relena Yuy watched them from the safety and warmth of the front porch, holding 2-year-old Odin Richard Yuy.

Helena made a snowball and tossed it at Aralia. The girl ducked, and the snowball, with Helena's excellent shot behind it, sailed towards the iron gate.

"Hey!"

"Auntie Relee', there's a girl there!"

"Helena, sweetie, I think you should go inside," Relena said, thinking the cold was making Helena hallucinate. 

"Aunt Relee', there's a girl there!" Helena persisted. She turned towards the gate at the girl she had accidentally hit. "Hey! What's your name!"

"Lien!" the girl called back.

"Oh my God!" Relena could finally see the girl Helen was talking about. Shifting Odin in her arms, she ran out towards the iron gate. 

"What are you doing out here?! It's 45 degrees!" 

"I'm looking for my father," the girl, Lien, said.

"Are you lost?"

"No. I know where he is."

"Where?"

"Here."

Relena looked surprised. "Are you sure?"

"Yes," Lien said. "My father's name is…"

  
"Daddy, we found a girl!"

Helena, dripping wet with melting snow, hurled herself into Duo's arms.

"What's that about, Angel?" Duo asked, using his nickname for her.

"We found a girl! I hit her with a snowball!"

"Why'd you do that, Angel?"

"I was trying to hit Aralia."

Duo felt rather than saw the glare Heero gave him. Heero was very protective of his little girl, "the Princess", as Duo had dubbed her. Well, it wasn't too far from the truth, anyway.

"And guess what!"

"What, Angel?"

"She says her daddy is…"

"Helena, sweetie," Relena said, finally catching up with the hyperactive girl. She held Odin in her arm, her other hand holding Lien's. Aralia clung to her mother's leg. "This is something we grown-ups need to discuss." Relena shot a look at Heero. Heero read her eyes and saw the seriousness in them. He looked at Aralia.

"Aralia, go upstairs with Helena."

"Yes, Daddy," Aralia said. She grabbed Helena's hand and darted up the stairs.

"So, what's this about?" Sally asked. She glanced at Lien. "What's your name?"

"Lien. I'm looking for my father. He's here." Her eyes darted around the room.

Wufei had been staring at Lien the whole time she had been there. There was something so familiar about her, but there couldn't be. He had never known anyone named Lien.

"Who's your father? And where's your mother?" Quatre asked. There was a feeling of anxiety in the room. They all had a feeling as to who it was and were waiting for her to disprove them.

"Mother…mother is dead," Lien said. I was painful for her to think of the mother she had never known. "But my father is Chang Wufei."

I bet you all have questions, don't you? Well, I shall write more soon!


	2. A Past Life

Disclaimer-I don't own Gundam Wing

A Past Life

"Are you really Uncle Wufei's daughter?" Helena asked, looking at Lien. Helena and Aralia had both been spying from the staircase.

"Mm-hmm," Lien said, getting down on the floor of Aralia's room. She had been sent out of the living room while the adults digested her information.

"I didn't know Uncle Wufei had a wife," Aralia said quietly, toying with the ear of her teddy bear. Aralia had her father's quiet nature.

"How come I never met you?" Helena asked.

"I've been living on Earth since I was born. Father and Mother are from the L-5 colonies. A0206." She had looked up all this information. 

"My daddy and mommy's from L-2." Helena said.

"L-1 for Daddy." Aralia added. "Mommy's from Earth."

"What are you three up to?"

Lien, Helena, and Aralia looked up to see Mariemaia. Treize's daughter was now 15 years old, quite pretty, and often in charge of Aralia when Relena and Heero had to be away on diplomatic missions. 

"We're talking about our parents," Lien answered. "Is Father…?" She couldn't think of a question.

Mariemaia, who had heard the whole thing, fiddled nervously. She saw where Lien was coming from. She herself had never known her father. Her grandfather had taken care of her, and when he died Lady Une had looked after her.

"He's in shock. It's pretty nerve-shattering to find out that you have a daughter."

"Lien, how come Uncle Wufei doesn't know?" Helena asked.

"Um…well…'cause I'm a test-tube baby."

"Just how in God's name do you have a daughter, Wufei?" Duo demanded. "When did you ever have a wife?"

"10 years ago," Wufei answered simply.

"Please, Wufei, just explain," Relena said.

"Yeah, I wanna see where this is going, too," Sally said.

Wufei stayed quiet for a moment, then spoke up. "My family…and my wife's…were exiled out of China in AC 133. Leaving the old land, though, apparently did not change the old ways. I was forced to marry Meilan when I was 14." He paused, wondering if he should tell them. "Meilan had another name. It was Nataku."

"Nataku?!" Duo exclaimed.

"But that's…" Quatre said.

"Yes, that's my Gundam."

"What happened to Nataku?" Sally asked.

"She died a few months after we were married. In the so-called "Sweep of A0206"."

Sally's faced blanched suddenly. ""S-sweep of A0206"?"

"Yes. She took out an MS to fight and went into space. I followed her with the Shenlong. Shenlong had no weapons. I was about to be finished off…until she ran her MS into my attacker."

There was a shocked silence.

"She died 10 minutes later."

There was another long silence.

"So, how do you have a daughter, Wufei?" Trowa asked. "If Nataku died a few months after you got married, how could you have a daughter?"

"That I do not know. We never volunteered to have children immaculately."

"Wait a minute," Dorothy suddenly said. "I remember something about that. There were crack doctors around then, who took DNA samples from people to make into children. Problem was they didn't have the parents' permission or even acknowledgment. And they experimented on the babies. They were shut down about 8 years ago. We have Miss Relena to thank for that." She glanced over at Relena.

"Yes, we sniffed them out and shut them down in 196," Relena said. "I think it's possible, Wufei, that these people could have gotten a DNA sample from you and your wife and made Lien. We know that these doctors kept files on the people they stole DNA from, but they were deleted before we could see them. That means…"

"That's there's a chance that Lien isn't your daughter, but at the same time, an equal chance that she is," Heero finished up.

"You know, I never knew my parents, either," Mariemaia said. "My mother left my father when she was pregnant with me. And she died when I was two years old. My grandfather took care of me until he died, and then Lady Une, my father's girlfr-er, consort, took me in when I was 7."

"I've lived in the orphanage all my life," Lien said. "And I hated it. I HATED it."

"Who took care of you?" Mariemaia asked.

"I don't know her name. All I know is that she's mean. But when I was really little, this guy called Master O took care of me. I looked that up."

Lien held one of Aralia's teddy bears. Much like her mother, Aralia loved teddy bears and always received them from her father. 

"I want my father."

"Well, you have him now!" Helena said brightly. She hated seeing anyone sad. She had grown up in a warm, loving environment and had never heard of what Lien felt. It frustrated her that her new friend was upset. "You have a daddy now, just like me and Arali'." (That's Helena's nickname for Aralia, pronounce Uh-rail-ee)

"Wufei, what are you going to do if Lien IS your daughter?" Quatre asked.

"You're horrible with kids," Sally interjected. "I'm sorry, Wufei, but you're just too impatient with them. Especially with girl kids."

"That's not surprising," Trowa muttered. Quatre gave him a light elbow.

"We're not even sure if she's my daughter yet," Wufei said suddenly, shortly, and coldly. "Don't go jumping to conclusions. It's annoying."

He stood up. "I'll be out for awhile."

"Wufei, wait…!"

But Wufei had already left.

'Did you know about this, Nataku?'

'No.' The tomboy voiced resounded in Wufei's head. 

'Then why are you still sticking around in my head?' Wufei demanded, frustrated. 'Why don't you leave me alone?'

'Did it ever occur to you that I don't want to leave you?!' Nataku's temper flared. 'Listen, you needed my help piloting Shenlong. I figured that I could leave when you joined up with Sally but it turns out that you still needed me. And by that time, I'd gotten so used to living inside you that I didn't…'

'Didn't what?"

'I didn't want…to leave.'

There was a silence.

'Lien looks exactly like me,' Nataku said softly.

'That doesn't mean spit.'

'Seriously, Wufei, what are you going to do if she IS our daughter?'

'…I don't know. Accept her as that, I suppose.'

'Will you love her?'

'What is this, 20 Questions?'

'I'm serious, Wufei. Don't get her hopes up and then dash them. That girl needs love in the worst way. And…you need it, too.'

'What's that supposed to mean?'

'You'll see.'

I've always believed that Wufei carried Nataku with him. In the manga, he declared that Nataku's spirit resided in Shenlong. Now that Shenlong is gone, Nataku must be with Wufei. I don't see him leaving her behind at all.


	3. A Strong And Determined Woman

Disclaimer-I don't own Gundam Wing or Real Bout High School

A Strong and Determined Woman

When Lien woke up she didn't know where she was. She felt comfort beneath her, warmth on top of her, softness supporting her head. All of which was new to her.

"GOOD MORNING, LEE-LEE!!"

She felt knees sink into her calves.

"Aah!"

"Oh, I'm sorry!"

Helena moved onto the bed and started bouncing on her knees. "Pagers is making breakfast!"

(A/N: "Pagers", pronounced Pay-gerz, is Helena's nickname for Pagan. She has a nickname for everyone)

"Who?"

"Aunt Relee's butler."

Then she remembered where she was. The events of last night—walking in the snow, seeing her father for the first time, meeting Helena, Aralia, and Mariemaia, falling asleep in one of the guest rooms.

A nightmare…darkness and loneliness… "Daddy!"…no one came.

"Lee-Lee, come on!" Helen gave the bed a forceful bounce. "I'm hungry! I won't eat unless Arali' and Marie' and you are with me!"

Lien turned and rolled out of bed. "Okay."

"Wufei, please stay until breakfast is over," Relena asked.

He was silent.

"Please, Wufei. Lien was so happy to see you. She wants her father."

"There's no proof she's my daughter."

"Still, Wufei, I think she deserves the chance with at least one normal Christmas morning. And what if you are her father?"

Stony silence greeted her again.

Relena shook her head and sighed. HEERO talked more than Wufei, for God's sake. 

Well, perhaps there was hope for Wufei yet. No one had expected Heero to be the greatest father. And yet when Aralia was born, he was the king and Aralia his spoiled princess. And the queen couldn't have been happier—except, of course, when the news came that she was pregnant a second time, this time with a little prince.

Perhaps Wufei would show the same love for Lien that Heero showed for Aralia and Odin.

"Aunt Relee'!" Helena's voice rang through the room as she ran in, dragging Lien with her. "Where's Mommy and Daddy?"

"Right here!" Duo ran up from behind and grabbed Helena under the arms, picking her up and swinging her around. She laughed out loud as she tried to squirm her way out of his grasp.

Lien watched all this with quiet eyes. This was what she wanted, just her, her father and mother. All she had ever wanted in the world was to have what Helena had.

She reached into her jacket pocket. She had slept in her clothes last night, having no nightclothes that would fit her.

Inside her pocket was torn, bent, had once been wet, and obviously well-loved manga. Samurai Girl: Real Bout High School, Volume 1.

"What's that?" Relena asked pointing to the book.

"This was my mother's favorite book," Lien said quietly, and it was like the whole world fell silent.

"I've had it since I was little. And there's a bookmark where her favorite line is. Here, I'll show you."

She opened up the manga to page 97 and held it up for them to see.

"It's where Tatsuya says, "Being a cute girl isn't all there is to life. And being a cute girl isn't the only way to be a great woman. So, become a great woman by being a strong and determined one. Ryoko, if you're a warrior, you should follow the path you believe in"." She lowered the book and shut it.

"Wufei?" Duo asked, staring at the ex-pilot, noticing that Wufei's face had suddenly drained of color

"Nataku had that book. And that was her favorite page, too."

"And Mother's name is in it, too. She opened it to the inside front cover and held it up.

Written in Chinese was this: "Nataku, NOT Meilan. That goes for you too, Chang Wufei! _."

She shut the book again. The room turned towards Wufei.

"No one except in our colony wrote in Chinese."

"I was taught it along with English. It was ordered that I learn it." 

"Then someone from our colony must have known about you, therefore, knowing Nataku and I."

You could've have cut the tension with a knife.

"There is no doubt about it now. Lien…" He looked at the 10-year-old girl, and she looked right back at him… "is Chang Lien. The daughter of Chang Wufei and Nataku."

"Father…" Lien clutched the book to her chest as her eyes brimmed with tears. "Daddy…"

Abruptly, Wufei stood up. He turned and walked, without a sound, without a gesture, without even eye contact, out of the dining room, out of the living room, and out the front door.


End file.
